The creation of the mat is basically finished at this point. Polyurethaning the mat is probably the easiest part of the process and the least fun. I use a indoor, water base, low luster polyurethane and apply with a pad brush. After six coats–Voilà , you have a finished mat. Next, delivery and installation.
The fun part of mat making is painting the main art, which is the reason I started making mats. Most of the time it takes more than one coat to make colors opaque, especially with red or burgundy. In this case, to show an artisan look, I wanted the finished mat to display a slight brush stroke which means I only had to paint the entire mat twice. There have been times when I have had to paint a mat three or even four times to get the desired effect. Next, coating the mat.
A key part of my mat making process is getting the design onto the mat. There are a lot of ways to do this but I like to transfer large images via graphite paper. Generally I work as much as possible on a tabletop and due to this mat’s large size, I will transfer the art one half of the mat at a time. Next, pulling out the brushes.
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